"cyber being - cyber dreaming"

In the digital age, can we not have a cyber dreaming? I don't think this is an unreasonable proposition if another man made creation - that of money, can be associated with such an idea (Chatwin, 1987, p. 12).  Unfortunately, this abstract concept will do little to help one understand the complexities of the virtual self.  A virtual self is not real, it is merely a reconstructed projection of one's own being or identity.  The virtual self's identity, like one's own being is constructed through the perception of others. What differs in this regards, is that those contributing to the identity of our virtual self, do so through the values, ideologies, and discourse of another virtual self.  

Figure 1

The virtual self has its own narrative, and these "self narratives, like maps, are constructs for a particular purpose and context" (Van Luyn, 2013,). In the online game "Grepolis" one of my many virtual self's was a powerful player, one of the leaders in a major alliance.  I had friends, enemy's, would bully, was bullied, liked by some and hated by others. We can now begin to understand that "the mutual (and coercive) production of networked lives invites a reconsideration of how we read and create lives in an online context" (McNeill, 2012, p.  116). 

Power was a central determining factor in how I was perceived within this virtual network. This power was produced primarily by spending the most time online, in the guise of a virtual self - and was reinforced by others. If one is to believe that "Dreaming determines not only what life is but also what it can be" (Stanner, 1979, p. 29), can cyber dreaming not provide an avenue to experience an alternate reality?  

References:

Chatwin, B. (1987). The songlines. London: Jonathan Cape.

McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. p 101-118.

Stanner, W. E. (1979). White man got no dreaming: essays, 1938-1973. Canberra: Australian National University Press.

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 4:  Networked narratives. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Image Credit:

Figure 1. [virtual self]  retrieved from: http://b7-publishing.com/baz/bazaar/index.php?show=eGraphics&base[condition]=leading&base[code]=78765&base[width]=645&base[height]=222